Groundhog Day may not seem like the most fascinating speech therapy theme. But SLPs may find this quirky holiday to be just what their students need to keep plugging away on goals during the long winter months.
After all, how can you go wrong with a cute, burrowing animal that predicts the weather? Groundhog Day provides the perfect backdrop for creative, interactive activities that can engage students and enhance their speech and language skills.
Let’s take a look at some easy ways to incorporate Groundhog Day into your speech therapy sessions.
LEARN ABOUT GROUNDHOG DAY
Use these activities to teach your speech therapy students (or refresh their memory) about Groundhog Day.
Boom Cards
This Groundhog Day Boom deck (get it on TpT with a printable version, too) includes a simple passage that is broken up across multiple cards and has interactive comprehension activities for students to complete throughout.
Reading Comprehension Passage
Older elementary students can learn about Groundhog Day using a short informational passage from a packet of February language activities. The PDF can be printed or presented and filled in digitally.
Two sets of questions are included so that you can target reading comprehension, formulating sentences, answering wh- questions, and more ...and use the rest of the packet throughout the remainder of February!
Informational Websites
The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club is the official website site for photos, information about events, and predictions from previous years.
This Pennsylvania tourism website has lots of information about Groundhog Day, including a livestream each year.
Videos
National Geographic provides 40 seconds of groundhog videos (with a quick summary of Groundhog Day).
This video from SciShow Kids tells about Groundhog Day, but also gives lots of information about groundhogs in general.
For older students, this WatchMoJo.com video goes deeper into the history, traditions, and even the pop culture references surrounding Groundhog Day.
GROUNDHOG DAY WEBSITE ACTIVITIES FOR SPEECH THERAPY
The internet is a host of several interactive (and sometimes free!) activities that you can use with virtual and in-person students alike.
Students complete the puzzle to get the groundhog from his burrow to his prediction of either an early spring or more winter.
Boom Cards
In addition to a reading passage, the Groundhog Day Boom deck (get it here on TpT) shared previously in this post has several other components that use information about Groundhog Day to target goals such as vocabulary, verb tenses, making inferences, and more.
If you need something for articulation too, this speech therapy Boom Card deck (get it here on TpT) keeps with the theme as students practice articulation targets before making a shadow prediction for the groundhog on the scene.
Groundhog Day Coloring Activities
Print Groundhog Day pictures (crayola.com) or use digital ones (thecolor.com) while you target tons of language goals or drill any speech sounds.
Starfall
Starfall provides a simple and brief explanation of Groundhog Day that includes some colorful illustrations that may be perfect for your youngest students.
GROUNDHOG DAY BOOKS
Search the following book titles/authors wherever you access digital versions of books (your local library, YouTube, websites, online stores, etc.).
Groundhog Day! by Gail Gibbons
Groundhog's Day Off by Robb Pearlman
Groundhog's Dilemma by Matt Faulkner
Grumpy Groundhog by Maureen Wright
Who Will See Their Shadows This Year? by Jerry Pallotta
GROUNDHOG DAY CONVERSATION ACTIVITIES
Get warmed up for the session or drum up conversation with these activities that prompt students to talk with you and each other about Groundhog Day.
Groundhog Day Poll
Finally, ask students their opinions on what will happen on the big morning. After learning all about this wintertime tradition, students can cast their vote to see what the small group (or class) predicts.
Email subscribers can use this free Groundhog Day prediction page (digitally or printed) to organize their students' answers and ideas!
Groundhog Day Jokes
Today has 36 jokes about Groundhog Day that are perfect for targeting social language, multiple meaning words, articulation in sentences/reading, clear speech strategies, nonliteral language, and more.
Groundhog Day Interview
Students can role-play an interview about Groundhog Day. One student could be a reporter or journalist who is asking another student pretending to have just attended Groundhog Day live. This would be a great way for older students to synthesize what they've learned about the occasion.
Whether more winter, an early spring, or something in between is in store for you, these Groundhog Day activities will keep your speech therapy students interested in this fun and 150+ year old tradition.
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